1996

Though we think of arcades as on a downward spiral by 1996, they weren't dying without a fight. Area 51 was one of the last great gun games, San Francsico Rush's addictive racing won fans, and Metal Slug launched a 2D dynasty. Whether you preferred the 3D fighting of Virtua Fighter 3 and its mind-blowing graphics or the polish of Street Fighter Alpha 2 - which also made it out on PlayStation and Saturn this year - you had a place to drop your quarters.

The Saturn gave its all in the face of Sony's onslaught, producing a pile of memorable games: Dragon Force is still talked about in hushed tones by strategy addicts, while Sega took a left turn with NiGHTS into dreams..., a thoroughly beautiful and inventive actioner. Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei delivered great, 3D shooting action, while Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge was another of Capcom's memorable contributions to Saturn fighting fans.

The PlayStation began to hit its stride in its second year, offering up its first slate of fully-formed sequels: Wipeout XL was near-perfect futuristic racing while Twisted Metal 2 got car combat right. The often-overlooked Jumping Flash! 2 proved even more engaging and adorable than the original... shame there's no sequel in sight 10 years later. That's not to say that sequels were it: Tomb Raider and Resident Evil are 1996's twin stars, each defining the PlayStation era in its own way.

Of course, the Nintendo 64, with the superlative Super Mario 64, appeared in 1996. The game redefined a series that had created the very fabric of console games in its first installment, inspiring another wave of imitators and innovators in its wake. Pilotwings 64  was an early standout as well.

The PC, of course, kept going strong. Id software, the creators of the Doom series, shot off their first full-3D salvo with Quake. Then, Sid Meier's Civilization II drove strategy fans into a new realm of ecstasy, and if they couldn't get enough, Master of Orion II offered a galactic civilization to nurture. Duke Nukem 3D wasn't the first game in the series, but its leap into 3D defined it - and an attitude we still see plenty of today.